Optical tweezers

May 6, 2023

Using optical tweezers, researchers at Raman Research Institute (RRI), attempted to study structural details of Laponite, a synthetic clay.
- RRI is an autonomous institute funded by Department of Science and Technology.
- Laponite is a widely used raw material in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.
Optical tweezers grab particles, atoms, molecules, and living cells with their laser beam fingers.
They use laser light to push small particles towards center of the beam and to hold them there.
Optical tweezers are now widely used to investigate biological systems.
Other Applications include:
- confinement and organization (e.g. for cell sorting).
- tracking of movement (e.g. of bacteria).
- application and measurement of small forces.
- altering of larger structures (such as cell membranes).
Limitation– optical tweezers are only able to manipulate very small objects and only at very short distances.
Arthur Ashkin — who, at 96, becomes the oldest scientist ever to be awarded a Nobel Prize — is credited with having invented “optical tweezers”.